I grew up first-gen Dominican-American and working class in New York City, the eldest daughter who figured it out as she went. Nobody handed us a playbook. That was my first lesson in what access really means.
From growing up living above my uncles bodega (yes, cue the fitting stereotype), to my first job at Goldman Sachs, I learned how money actually moves, and how differently the kids of the people at the top grow up.
And I was good at it.
Along the way, I climbed myself up to working alongside changemakers and landing roles at top firms like Blackstone, Areas and KKR. I then pivoted to build a beauty business. From one location to three, nearly 2,000 clients later, it grew to seven figures in revenue, and then sold it. That's when I saw it: the families with options weren't the ones with the biggest salaries.
They were the ones with more than one income. The ones who owned something. The ones who knew the rules nobody explains to families like mine, and played by them on purpose. they were and refused to apologize for it.
I wasn't always the one telling parents to earn past their salary. I was the first-gen kid at Goldman Sachs, quietly making other people rich.
